The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, on Thursday said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would take a “sensitive decision” on the electronic transmission of election results based on the country’s prevailing realities.
News reports that Dare’s comments come amid debates over the Electoral Act Amendment Bill recently approved by the Senate.
The Senate approved a version of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill authorising the electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal, IReV.
However, the bill provides that manual transmission may be adopted in cases of network or communication failure.
The approval followed days of protests by civil society organisations demanding that lawmakers make real-time electronic transmission mandatory without exceptions.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News, Dare described Tinubu as a committed democrat who would act in the nation’s best interest.
“I can assure you that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a renowned democrat, will do what is right, but it will not be in isolation from the realities of our country,” he said.
He stressed that any decision on the contentious issue would reflect practical considerations, including infrastructure limitations.
Questioning the feasibility of full real-time electronic transmission, Dare argued that no country operates a completely flawless electronic electoral system.
“There’s no 100 per cent real-time transmission anywhere. Are you telling me that this country, as it is, is networked enough to have a 100 per cent electronic process?” he asked.